Parent's Guide to the New York State 4th Grade Tests English Language Arts, Mathematics

INTRODUCTION Although several years have passed since you were nine years old, your fourth-grade experience and your child's are probably not very different. There are still spelling bees at school, dodgeball games at recess, and giggling fits during class in which students try to stop laughing, but just can't. These are all memories you can share with your child. However, the memory of spending weeks in intensive preparation for a series of day-long standardized tests is one your child will have all on his or her own.The tests in question are the New York English Language Arts, Mathematics and Science tests for grade four. Described as the Elementary Level Tests, the fourth-grade exams are taken by about two hundred thousand students each year. The tests are all a mixture of multiple-choice questions, short open-ended questions, and extended open-ended questions. The English exam also contains a passage the teacher reads out loud on which the children take notes and then write two short responses and one extended response, while the science exam includes a performance section which tests basic laboratory skills. Critics of the tests could state that some IRS forms are easier to understand than this test format. While this may be true, if you and your child familiarize yourselves with the test structure, your child will not be confused or frustrated by the test format and will instead approach each exam with the confidence of an accountant handling a 1040EZ form.How the Elementary Level Tests Were BornAlthough these fourth-grade tests do not cover history, a little dab of it here will help put them in perspective. In 1995 the New York State Education Department created a detailed outline of the curriculum requirements for all subjects from prekindergarten to high school. These massive volumes languished in obscurity, however, since they did not correspond to the types of questions being asked on the statewide tests. A year earlier the Educational Board of Regents had approved a plan to revise the tests, and so the task of combining the detailed curriculum with the new test format fell to Education Commissioner Richard P. Mills. Mr. Mills made testing at all grade levels the focal point of his agenda, toughening the academic standards and changing the format of the tests from a purely multiple-choice affair to a three-day, diverse-question setup. The first wave of students who took these new tests showed the effects of the higher standards: 52 percent of all New York fourth-graders failed the English exam in 1999, while 33 percent failed the math test. The next year students did a little better in English, with only 41 percent failing the English exam, but results in math were much the same, with about one out of every three students receiving a failing score. These massive failure rates made headlines statewide and, understandably, caused widespread concern (and finger-pointing) among parents and educators. Some critics claim the tests were too hard, others that the students were poorly prepared. The debate continues.One thing seems clear: low scores do not mean these tests will be made easier or eliminated. With accountability the pervasive them in national education, more and more states are setting academic standards and then rewarding or punishing schools depending on whether they achieve these standards. In 2001 President George W. Bush even supported the "No Child Left Behind" Act, which would require states to provide English and math testing to all students in grades three through eight in order to receive federal funds. With "accountability" the pervasive theme in national education, more and more states are setting academic standards and then rewarding or punishing schools depending on whether they achieve these standards.What's at Stake?With so much emphasis being placed on these tests, you'd think the fourth-graders who take them should be given the rigJohnson, Cynthia is the author of 'Parent's Guide to the New York State 4th Grade Tests English Language Arts, Mathematics', published 0014 under ISBN 9780743214056 and ISBN 0743214056.